Among organic light-emitting devices, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-174639, there has been known an organic light-emitting device in which organic compound layers having different emission colors are stacked to realize light emission of multiple colors. Specifically, in an organic electroluminescence (EL) apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-174639, one pixel includes multiple sub-pixels arranged in parallel to each other, and organic compound layers having different emission colors are stacked in each of the multiple sub-pixels. In a first sub-pixel, a first organic compound layer, a common electrode, a second organic compound layer, and a third electrode are sequentially stacked on a first electrode. In a second sub-pixel, a third organic compound layer, a common electrode, the second organic compound layer, and the third electrode are sequentially stacked on the first electrode. Then, the first electrode and the third electrode are electrically connected and supplied with the same potential.
In order to cause the respective organic compound layers to emit light, the following display apparatus has been proposed. In a case where the first or third organic compound layer is caused to emit light, a positive voltage is applied to the first electrode whereas a negative voltage is applied to the common electrode. In a case where the second organic compound layer is caused to emit light, a negative voltage is applied to the third electrode (and first electrode) whereas a positive voltage is applied to the common electrode. In this manner, the display apparatus operates by time-division driving. In a case where a mixed color is to be obtained, an alternating voltage is applied between the first electrode and the common electrode.
In the structure of the sub-pixels included in the organic EL apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-174639, when the time-division driving is adopted, a duty ratio reaches at most 50%. Based on the fact that the duty ratio cannot be increased, the sub-pixels need to be driven at high luminance correspondingly in order to obtain a desired emission luminance. As a result, the luminescence lifetime of an organic EL device is shortened.